The Fire Safety Hazard of the Use of Flameless Ration Heaters Onboard Commercial Aircraft
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a The Fire Safety Hazard of the Use of Flameless Ration Heaters Onboard Commercial Aircraft Steven M. Summer June 2006 DOT/FAA/AR-TN06/18 This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, Virginia 22161. U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration te technical note technic o NOTICE This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for the contents or use thereof. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturer's names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the objective of this report. This document does not constitute FAA certification policy. Consult your local FAA aircraft certification office as to its use. This report is available at the Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center’s Full-Text Technical Reports page: actlibrary.tc.faa.gov in Adobe Acrobat portable document format (PDF). Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. DOT/FAA/AR-TN06/18 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date THE FIRE SAFETY HAZARD OF THE USE OF FLAMELESS RATION June 2006 HEATERS ONBOARD COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT 6. Performing Organization Code ATO-P R&D 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Steven M. Summer 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center 11. Contract or Grant No. Airport and Aircraft Research and Development Division Fire Safety Branch Atlantic City International Airport, NJ 08405 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Office of Aviation Research and Development Washington, D.C. 20591 ANM-100 15. Supplementary Notes 16. Abstract While it is well established that the shipment of a large quantity of flameless ration heaters poses a significant fire safety risk, this report examines the potential hazard associated with the use of these flameless ration heaters in an aircraft cabin and with the accidental activation of them in a confined area aboard an aircraft, such as in overhead storage bins or a cargo compartment. Tests were performed both with individual Meals, Ready-to-Eat containing flameless heaters in an open environment and multiple Meals, Ready-to-Eat in a confined space to examine their potential hazard. Temperatures in excess of 215°F and violent ignition events were observed. It is evident from the tests performed that the release of hydrogen gas from these flameless ration heaters is of a sufficient quantity to pose a potential hazard on board a passenger aircraft. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement FRH, MRE, Flameless ration heater, Flameless meal, This document is available to the public through the National Flameless heater Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, Virginia 22161. 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 17 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized TABLE OF CONTENTS Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY vii INTRODUCTION 1 PACKAGING AND USE OF MEALS, READY-TO-EAT 2 DESCRIPTION OF EXPERIMENTS 3 Individual MRE Tests 3 Ignition Testing of Multiple MREs in a Confined Area 4 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 4 Individual MRE Test Results 4 Results of Ignition Testing of Multiple MREs in a Confined Area 5 SUMMARY 10 REFERENCES 10 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Results of a Cargo Fire Occurring During the Shipment of MREs in March of 2001 2 2 Contents of MRE Used in Testing 3 3 Photograph Taken From a Video of Ignition Event Occuring in an MRE Under Normal Operation 5 4 Configuration of MREs for Ignition Test 1 6 5 Temperature Profiles for Ignition Test 1 6 6 Configuration of FRHs for Ignition Test 2 7 7 Temperature Profiles for Ignition Test 2 8 8 Configuration of FRHs for Ignition Test 4 9 9 Still Photographs Taken From Video of Ignition Test 4 at (a) Time = 0.00 s, (b) Time = 0.47 s, and (c) Time = 2.33 s 9 10 Temperature Profiles for Ignition Test 4 10 iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Conditions for the Individual MRE Tests 4 v LIST OF ACRONYMS FRH Flameless ration heaters MRE Meal, Ready-to-Eat vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Flameless ration heaters are devices used for the flameless heating of a meal known as Meals, Ready-to-Eat. The technology behind flameless ration heaters is based on a combination of food grade iron and magnesium. When salt water is added to the iron-magnesium combination, the mixture results in an exothermic reaction, reaching temperatures of up to 100°F in a relatively short amount of time. This rapid rise in temperature is then used to cook the Meal, Ready-to-Eat. Meals, Ready-to-Eat are used extensively in the military as a method of providing meals to soldiers while in the field. They are also finding their way into use by others, such as campers, boaters, and disaster response teams. While it is well established that the shipment of a large quantity of these flameless heaters poses a significant fire safety risk, this report examines the potential hazard associated with the use of these Meals, Ready-to-Eat in an aircraft cabin, or the accidental activation of flameless ration heaters in a confined area aboard the aircraft, such as in overhead storage bins or a cargo compartment. vii/viii INTRODUCTION Flameless ration heaters (FRH) are devices used for the flameless cooking of a self-heating meal known as a Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE). The technology behind FRH is based on a combination of food grade iron and magnesium. When salt water is added to the iron-magnesium combination, the mixture results in an exothermic reaction, reaching temperatures of up to 100°F in a relatively short amount of time. This rapid rise in temperature is then used to cook the MRE. MREs are used extensively in the military as a method of providing meals to soldiers in the field. FRH MREs are also finding their way into use by others, such as campers, boaters, and disaster response teams. FRH MREs are well known to pose certain fire, explosion, and health-related safety issues while in shipment where typically hundreds of these meals are packaged together in a single shipping container. They are also considered to be a hazardous material under the United Nations publication “Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods” and in that publication are listed as “dangerous when wet.” The 2004 Emergency Response Guidebook published by the United States Department of Transportation covers FRHs under guide 138: “Substances— Water-Reactive (Emitting Flammable Gases)” and lists the potential fire and/or explosion hazards. Some of the hazards listed include: • Produces flammable gases on contact with water • May ignite on contact with water or moist air • Some react vigorously or explosively on contact with water • May be ignited by heat, sparks, or flames • May reignite after fire is extinguished In fact, a major product of the reaction of the salt water and iron-magnesium mixture is hydrogen gas. The release of hydrogen is the primary cause of any fire safety concern surrounding FRHs and has resulted in at least one cargo fire during shipment. In March 2001, a container filled with FRHs was loaded onto a container ship at a naval station in Guam. The ship’s crew detected leaking hydrogen from the container and removed it from the ship. Fire fighters decided to attempt to move the contents and spread them among three separate containers. While performing this operation, the contents burst into flames as can be seen in figure 1. While it is well established that the shipment of a large quantity of these flameless heaters poses a significant fire safety risk, this report examines the potential hazard associated with the use of these MREs in an aircraft cabin, or the accidental activation of FRHs in a confined area aboard an aircraft, such as in overhead storage bins or a cargo compartment. 1 FIGURE 1. RESULTS OF A CARGO FIRE OCCURRING DURING THE SHIPMENT OF MREs IN MARCH OF 2001 [1] PACKAGING AND USE OF MEALS, READY-TO-EAT For the purposes of these experiments, several MREs manufactured by La Briute were acquired. The La Briute MREs use an FRH manufactured by ZestoTherm, Inc. Along with the meal itself, the MRE comes packaged with a Styrofoam™ tray, an FRH packet consisting of the iron- magnesium mixture, and a 2-ounce salt water packet. Photographs of these contents and of the MRE packaging are shown in figure 2. The packaging contains a caution not to use the MRE near fire or flame and that the activated FRH will produce heat and steam. No other fire safety warnings are noted on the package. The following are the directions supplied with the MREs: 1. Open carton at side with tab. Save carton. Remove cutlery pack and sodium water pouch. Keep food heater in foam tray. Use on flat, heat-safe surface. 2. Open sodium water pouch at notch. Lift entrée. Pour all water on food heater. Water activates food heater. Replace meal, film cover down on food heater in foam tray. 3. Slide foam tray back into carton. Close carton with tab. After 14 minutes, meal is hot and ready to eat. Slowly remove meal film cover. Stir contents. 2 BOX STYROFOAM SALTWATER FRH MRE PACKET FIGURE 2. CONTENTS OF MRE USED IN TESTING DESCRIPTION OF EXPERIMENTS INDIVIDUAL MRE TESTS.